Media Release: No Trains During Anniversary Weekend

No trains this long weekend during major electrification work

No trains will be running for three days during Auckland Anniversary Weekend as major work to prepare the rail network for electrification is carried out.

Special bus services will replace trains during the closure.

Auckland Transport Public Transport Operations Manager Mark Lambert says: “This anniversary weekend shutdown will give Auckland Transport and KiwiRail the opportunity to carry out a significant amount of work on more parts of the rail network upgrade for electrification.”

Veolia Transport General Manager, Graham Sibery says “Commuters should be aware of this weekend’s shutdown through posters on board trains and at train stations which include timetables for bus replacements and where to catch them.”

Normal bus and ferry services will continue to operate over the weekend. Normal train timetables will resume Tuesday 1 February.

When the rail network reopens on Tuesday morning passengers will use the upgraded station at Baldwin Ave on the Western Line, the first since Auckland Transport was established last November.

It has been upgraded with high quality new shelters, enhanced lighting, signage, landscaping and CCTV. The platforms have also been rebuilt and relocated to accommodate longer trains.

Auckland Transport Public Transport Operations Manager Mark Lambert says passengers will have a much better experience and security when using the new station.

“The majority of the work on Baldwin Ave Station was done during the recent Christmas/New Year rail network closure.”

Rail network upgrade works

KiwiRail will be finishing works on some of the major projects carried out over the Christmas and New Year period.

This includes Purewa Tunnel on the Eastern Line where tracks were lowered

during an intensive three-week project between December 31 and January 16, and the final stretch in some of the bridge replacement projects on the Southern Line.

Bridge St in Papatoetoe reopens today and Station Rd in Manurewa reopens next week, so contractors will be busy completing works associated with the bridge replacements. These have been carried out to provide clearance for the overhead wires needed for electrification. Browns Rd in Manurewa reopens on February 14 and Clevedon Rd in Papakura reopens mid-March.

Electrification contractor HILOR will install a number of masts at the western end of the Western Line, having already completed installations at Baldwin Ave and Newmarket, and civil works continue for resignalling between Newmarket and Westfield.

Platform extensions at Greenlane, which will take about four months to complete, will also begin.